New to Etsy & The Team looking for help please : )

[Former_Member]

Hi Everyone,
Just set up my shop 5/26/14 and I really would
love for it to be successful ! I'm reaching out to
my community and asking all of you to please
check out my shop and give me honest feedback.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I got my one and only sale a week ago : )

Thanks!
Jeanne
www.etsy.com/shop/lagunavintagekids

[Former_Member]

Hi Jeanne,Your baby clothing is adoreable.
The photos could be lighter.
Other than that , really nice.
Good luck to you.

[Former_Member]

You're doing really well getting your first sale so quickly, well done! Your clothes are lovely and different too. I agree with Diane above use a flash when taking your pics and experiment with different backgrounds and angles. Good weather - take the clothes outside into the sunshine! Try putting your items together in one of the pics to show an outfit and do what I did, look at other photos of similar items on Etsy and see which photos grab your eye and ask yourself why they do... Try to fill as much of the photo as possible with the item, close-ups are good and if doing a close up of a pocket detail or some embroidery then zoom right in and show off all its loveliness. Good luck!

[LydiasWeb]

Beautiful little shop with gorgeous children's clothing! Here are my thoughts. I noticed you had one item photographed on a child. This one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/191406927/little-girls-size-5-gold-and-floral?ref=shop_home_active_7 That is always much more appealing when I browse shops which sell clothing for children. Don't know if it's possible for you to put the clothing on child models or not, but if it is, I'd definitely do so, and have that as the first picture. I've also been told to be sure to use all 5 slots for pictures, so might show the seams or some other part of the inside of the garment to indicate how well constructed it is. Also, as these are vintage items that have been modified or upcycled you might describe in detail how you did the modifications. On the couple of items I looked at, you describe the item, but not really what parts are vintage or what you did to it to make the garment come to life. Hope I've been even a little bit helpful. Good luck and best of business to you!

[jxncait]

I've found that photography works best with natural light but not direct sunlight (too harsh shadows and such). I got one of those tri-fold science fair boards from Wal-Mart and use it as my background. I've found the best light to be on a cloudy day, but as you can't count on those, dusk or around sunrise is good too.
Also, I'd fill out your About page and have a picture of yourself on your profile. I enjoy learning more about shop owners and what makes them unique and different.

[BeachFleaMarket]

I'll add some advice about SEO-search engine optimization. This is how your listing are found. The key words need to be in the first 3 words of your title and description. Search for articles on ETSY about this. "Dress, girls then the descriptive words. I'd add the size in the title unless you are offering them in different sizes. Love your concept. Photos? take the pants off the hanger.

[heartsabustin]

Please don't use flash in your photographs. Flash creates harsh shadows and harsh light on the subject, and there's no need for it in your pics. If you can find a photo editor - picmonkey is free, PhotoScape is free and downloads to your computer - use that to brighten your pictures. There aren't many of my photos that aren't brightened and contrasted just a bit to make them stand out better.

Also, see if you can find some cool wooden vintage hangers to put the rest of the clothes on. I know it seems nit-picky, but it will help with the cohesiveness of your shop. The plastic hangers aren't near as cute as the clothes you're putting on them. Sometimes, those little things will make a huge difference. :)

[Former_Member]

Some of you are saying not to use flash in photos and I think it's because you live in very sunny climates (lucky you!), while I'm in the UK which has a different type of light.Obviously quality of camera comes into it too... Maybe we've hit on something quite important generally - some techniques will be different when considering where you are in the world. Really interesting!

[Former_Member]

Here are my thoughts (I apologize if I repeat the comments before me ! :)) :

- First and foremost, your items are adorable! lovely and original. No reason why you wouldn't be successful :)

I just opened shop myself, and I keep hearing three things :

1 - make your photos as good as possible!
Think about your favorite baby clothes shop, why its so good ? don't think about the products they sell - why you like it so much ? what kind of feeling you get when you shop there ? try to make your photos project the same feeling. Its not easy, but this is the tip I got from a product photographer and it really changed the way I take photographs now.

2 - make your SEO perfect!
This can be done, and its not that hard. Just try to follow the rules, and experiment a lot. I managed to make some of my products come really high on etsy searches just by changing the order of some words :)

3 - have as many products as you can!
This is something I always hear, I keep hearing about 70,80,90 products as a minimum. I really don't know the real number, but it comes from experience and I listen :) it also makes sense, as a lot of view are coming from visitors browsing inside your shop - and the more products you have the more time they will spend in your shop.

Now, apart from all of that, its all about the products you sell, right ? if they are good and unique, people will buy. but you need to gain people's trust in your shop and products - so try to write as much as possible about the product, write about your shop and about yourself. I really like to read this things.

I hope I made sense :)

Goood luck!!!

[Former_Member]

I just went back and looked at my own pics and actually I've changed my mind - the items I photographed in natural light, no bright sunshine, look much better than those taken in bright sunshine. So I've learnt something really useful too. Thanks Jeanne for asking the original question and thanks for all the tips everybody!

Happy Patty you crochet like me, we're going to be very busy getting together 90+ items!!! ;)

[Former_Member]

Haha LoopsandLil, for sure! But that's my favorite kind of busy! Good luck to us both :)

[StuckOnSilver]

Jeanne, absolutely adorable work!! Ditto the above. Good luck!